Furnace for treating sheet metal or the like



May 6, 190. Fl IWIILLE 1,7 7, 9

FURNACE FOR TREATING SHEET METAL OR THE LIKE Filed May 4. 1927 4 Shet. -Sh'eet 1 WITNESS INVENTOR May 6, 1930. WILLIE 1,757,789

.FURNAQE FOR TREATING SHEET METAL, OR THE LIKE I -Fi1ed-Ma 4. 192 4 Shets-Sheet 2 A II (Q m (U Ill May 6, 1930. FQWILLE FURNACE FOR TREATING SHEET METAL OR THE LIKE INVENTOR l 1 u u m w mwm m M 5 mwnl l. I. I N; m

..... -iii. hl'l I III lllllllll 1| 1 1.. lllll... II! II I I! IL May 6, 19.30. 1 F. WILLE FURNACE FOR TREATING S HEET METAL OR THE LIKE Filed May 4, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR .1 ing transferred therein.

Patented May 6, 19 30 UNITED STATES PATENT oFF-IcE- FREDRIK WILLIE, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS FURNACE FOR TREATING METAL OR THE Application filed May 4,1921. Serial No. 188,676.

This invention relates to conveyor mecha-- nism more particularly to conyeyors adapted to beoperatedin connection with furnaces of the tunnel type for conducting material. to be is heated through theheatingchainber of the furnace. I

It is among the'objects of invention to; provide'a conveyor-mechanisniespecially applicable for use in furnaces forheating or heat treating sheet metal such as tineplate, strip" or the like, without subjecting the ma-' terial to any engagement with the movable elements of the conveyor mechanism 0 ev stationary element of the furnace Another object of the inventibnfis to p vide a conveyor mechanism especially-adapted.

" ed for use'in furnaces in which the 'cenveyor element is disposed in the heating chamberof the furnace in a manner to coo eratewi-th the stationary hearth and inwhi c theactuating mechanism for the conveyor is disposed outside of the furnace to protect it frornjthe intense .heat of the furnace chamber l Another object of the invention st'o furnace structure of the above designated character which will be of simple, compact, and durable mechanical construction, which' shall be-eflicient in its operation, and which shall be adapted to transfer work in the furnace without effecting relative movement of the work with the portion of the furnace-and conveyor-mechanism with which it isengaged while passing throughthe furnace.

Various formsof conveyor mechanism have been heretofore proposed for conducting work through a furnace and ofthese the movable hearthfurnace is one most commonly used. In this type of furnace the hearth operates as an endlessconveyor and its construction does not lend itself to a design of furnace which is-efiicient in its applicationof heat to the work to be acted upon.

In accordance with the present invention these difliculties are overcome by providing a conveyor mechanism which extends the full length of the furnaceand co-operates with the hearth to transfer the material on the, latter. The carrier'element of the conveyor pro ' vide a comblned conveyor mechanism and which engages the work to transfer it on the hearth is adapted to raise-the work from the hearth, advance the same in a lateral direction and then return to its original position to again engage the work at another portion of its surface whereby it is transferred in successive steps from one end of the hearth to the other. e H i In-the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof and in which like refer ence characters designate like parts, Fig. -1 is a 'vertical sectional view partiallyjin elevatron of a combined furnace and conveyor nvcntion; Fig. 2 is-a top plan view thereof with-the roof .of the furnace and the arch of the heating chamber removed; Fig. 3 is a side elevation View; Fig. 4 detail views in side elevation of the cam mechanism'illustrating the relative position of the cams and cam followers during a complete: operating cycle of 'thevcams; Fig. 5 is a plan and side elevation view of work supporting links mounted on the transverse bars of .the conveyor mechanism to more clearly illustrate their manner -.of mounting; and Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are an enlarged sectional elevation, side elevation and iechanism embodying the principles of this i v plan view, respectively, of a'portion of the A furnace and conveyor mechanism.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings the structure therein illustrated comprises side walls 1, a'roof 2, a transverse arched section 3 and an arched section 4 of a furnace. The section 3 constitutes the furnace hearth and divides the lower combustion chamber 5 from the heating chamber 6 andthe chamber 7 between the roof and arch .Zand 4 respectively constitutes a by-pass for preheating air that hearth 3 are a'pl urality of projecting lugs 9 onwhich the-Work such as tin-plate or strip is supported when at reston the furnace hearth. Lugs 9 are in suitably spaced r elav with the carrier element of the conveyor tion, as shown, to adapt them for cooperation which consists of the following mechanism:

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings a pair of longitudinal side frames are prov ded with transverse bars 11 which are secured to the side frames by suitable clamping brackets 12. The bars 11 project through openings 13 provided in the side walls 1 of the furnace and are adapted for bodily movement there.- in in a manner hereinafter stated. The bars 11 are provided with cover plates 14 of such dimensions as to adequately cover the openings 13 for any-position of the bar therein and the plates 14 are in intimate-engagement with side plates 15 provided on the" outer walls of the furnace to seal the heating chamber against the loss of heat. As shown in Fig. 1 thebars 11 may be tubular members connected at their respective ends to'a' cooling medium such as-water or an air blower to maintain the bars 11 at a suitable temperature within the heating chamber;

The side frame portions'lO of the carrier member are provided with flange wheels 16 which are mounted on rails 17 of a supporting frame structure 18 and the latter is provided with rollers 19 which constitute followers for a plurality of cams 20. The frames 18 are movable on guides 21, Figs. 3 and 7 As shown in Figs. 1 and 3 the carrier frames 10 are provided with angle brackets 22 which are secured to the webs of the outer channel frame sections and which-areadapted to be engaged by rollers 23 mounted on levers 24 and 25. The levers are pivotally mounted at 26 and 27 to bearing brackets 28. The lower ends of the levers 24 and 25 are provided with rollers or cam followers 29 and 30 which engage a pair of cams 31 and 32 mounted co-axially with the cams 20 on shafts 33 which are journalled in pedestal bearings 28.

The cam mechanism is operated through a worm gear mechanism or any suitable gear reduction contained in the housings 35 wh1ch are operatively connected to a drive motor 36 through shafts 37 as shown in Fig. 3. The

motor 36 drives the shafts 33Iwhich rotate the cams to actuatethe carrier mechanism in the following manners As shown in Fig. 4

the cams 20 and 31 are disposed in opposed relation 180 degrees apart so that when the cam followers or rollers 19- which are journalledin the track frames 18 are in their elevated position the follower 29 of the lever which contacts with the carrier member is on the low portion of its cam 31. This phased relation of the cams and rollers is maintained for a purpose as will be set forth in connection wit-h the description of the operation of the conveyor mechanism.

A series of links or bars 40 having undercut seat portions 41 are adapted to engage the transverse bars 11 of the carrier as shown in Fig. 5. The bars 11 are provided with.

spondi'n collars or shoulders 42 to-maintain the members 40 in suitably spaced relation correto the spacing of the projecting lugs 9 o the furnace hearth. This is shown in Fig. 2 in'which the transverse bars-are" illustrated as 'movable between double rows through'the reduction gear mechanism 35 85 and the supportingtrack structure 18,"and

the laterally movable carrier mechanism comprising, side frames 10 and the transverse bars 11 with connecting links 40, is movable through the cam-mechanism to transfer the work on the supports 9 of the hearth in the following manner Theoam elements 20 and 31 are designed to lift, the rollers 19 of the track frame 18 and maintain the latter in elevated position during degrees of its travel and the cam which actuates the lever 24 ofthe side frames 10 isinefi'ective in producing movement of the lever 24 during the period in which the roller 19 is rising on the cam. This relation of the cam and rollers is shown in position 1 of Fig. 4 and in position 2 the roller 19 and the track support 18 in which it is j ournalled have-been elevated to their uppermost position which is illustrated by the bar 11 being disposed in theupper left hand corner of the rectangular figure shown in dotted lines to indicate its path of movement.

When the roller 19 has reached its elevated position, the cam 31 is in position 2 of Fig. 4' which is the position at which the roller 29 of the lever 24 is contacting with the gradually rising 'portion of the cam 31 and as the high point of the latter approaches the position of roller. 29 the lever 24 is subjected to angular movement on its pivot 26 causing a lateral displacement of the carrier frame 10 to the right when viewingthe structure of Fig. 3 from the right hand side of thesheet and the'carrier will then be in position 3 of Fig. 4; In this position the roller 19 of the track frame is approaching the fall of the cam 20 and further rotation of the latter will cause the track 18 to be lowered to position 4 without disturbing the lateral position of the carrier frame 10.

\Vhen the trackframe 18 has been lowered, cam 31 will be as shown in position 4 of Fig. 4 in which the roller 29 of the lever 24 upon further'rotation'of cam 31 will move radially inward on the camand recede from nism 1n the following mannerzthe angle bracket 22 whereby the carrier frame is free to be moved laterally in a left hand direction and this movement is effected through the cam at the extreme right of Fig. 3, which is opposed to cam 31 on the left of the figure. When the'cam mechanism thatcontrols lever 24'is in. position 4 of F ig. 4 the cam which actuates lever 25 will be in V the position in which the roller 30.will rise on its cam to displace the lever above its pivot 27 to produce lateral-movement of the carrier frame 10 to the left which is its initial position 1. v 4 p The. operation as described constitutes a complete operating-cycle which involves raising the track structure 18 moving the carrier frame laterally in one direction while-main taining the track structure in its raised position, lowering the track structure w file maintainin the carrier in its lateral displaced position and returning the earn rier to its original position while the track structure is maintained in its lowermost position. This cycle of operation is repeated to successively raise and lowerthe track structure and laterally move the carrier mechanism in opposite directionswithin the limits of its lateral travel. 1

The openings 13-in'the side walls of the furnace are of such dimensions as topermit unimpeded movem tof the conveyor bars 11 as previously explained, and the bars 11 vtraverse a rectangular path as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. The work is moved such as rolled sheets or strip, the supporting lugs 9 of the hearth;;when

through the furnace by the conveyor mecha- When the track support andcarrier frames 10 and 18 are raised by the cam, the work, is raised from the carrier is subsequently moved laterally to the right the work is carried with it and -when the carrier frame is subsequently lowered by the cam the work is deposited on the hearth lugs 9. The operating cycle of the carrier is continuous for the purpose of moving the work through the entire length of the furnace. From a study of the conveyor mechanism and its cooperative relationwith the furnace hearth, or the stationary supports 9, it is evident that at no time during the raising and shifting of thework or. during the transfer of the work from one position to another on the furnace hearth will there proposedlthe work and its carrier mechanismsuch as rollers or other fmovable elements were SubJcctcd to relative movement which marred the surface of the material resulting in a loss in their commercial value as sheets so marred are considered seconds in. the trade. o v

' Although the invention has been illustrated asembodied in a furnace for moving material through -a furnace, it is to be under-f stood that the conveyor mechanism is appllcable for use anywhere and for any purpose fwhere 1t 18' desired to convey or transfer materials in the manner specified. It

is further evident that various modifications may be made-in the details of construction and in the arrangement of the several coopcrating parts without departing from .the

principles herein set forth.

I claim herein as my invention combination a plurality of work supports, a

iiork carriercooperating with said supportsto transfer thework thereon,-a. track support for said carrier, a plurality of cams in cooperative engagement with said; track support, and a-plurality of cams cooperatively en a edWith said carrier said track and '85 1. A, conveyor mechanism comprising 1n carrier operating cams being mounted for rotation on common drive shafts with their extended faces in opposed relation to succcssively raise said .track, move the carrier thereon in one direction, lower the track, and return the carrier to itsinitial position on the track.

2. In a heating furnace the combination with a hearth of'a workcarrier adapted to transfer the work thereon, and camanechanism for actuating said carrier to raise the work from the hearth, move it laterally while in its raised position and lower the same to the hearth, without producing relative mo vement of the work and hearth or the work and carrier while the work is in engagement with the one or the other, said carrier being partiall disposed within the heating chamber f the furnace and projecting through the wal s thereof and said cam mechanism being disposed on the outside of the furnace and in cooperative engagement with the outwardly pro ected portion of said carrier.

'3. In a heating chamber the combinatlon with a hparth of a work carrier adapted to transfer the work thereon comprising a track support, a plurality of side frames mounted for lateral movement on said support, a plurality of supporting bars disposed trans-' verscly of said frame and secured thereto and projecting through openings in said furnace walls, closure plates mountedon said bars and movable therewith to seal the openings through which the bars project, and cam mechanism for successively raising said track suppoi-t, subjecting the side frames to lateral movement thereon in one direction while in i its raised position, lowerthe supports and return the side frame members to their initial position on the track support to advance the work through the heating chamber of the 5 furnace in successive steps.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

FREJDRIK WILLE. 

